Lilah hears it, too. "It's okay, Aunt Audrey," she says softly, touching her aunt's arm. "We're good. I promise."
Audrey glances at her, holding her gaze for a long moment. I'm not sure what she sees on Lilah's face, but she sighs, touching her cheek. "Sweet girl," she says softly. "We're here if you need us."
Lilah swallows hard, nodding. "Thank you."
Audrey glances at me again with worry in her eyes, before she clears her throat. "Do you know what you'd like to eat?"
"I want a hubcap with chili cheese fries and a chocolate shake," Lilah says without hesitation.
"I'll have the same."
Audrey nods, sweeping our menus off the table. "I'll have them out soon," she says, hesitates for another second, and then strides away.
Lilah and I sit in silence for a moment before she huffs out a breath.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know she was working tonight," she murmurs. "When the previous owners died, they left the diner to Aunt Audrey. I guess she worked here for a long time, and they were always close. Her dad helps her run it. She isn't usually here."
"It's fine, sweetness."
"She's protective."
"I can see that."
"I think they promised my dad that they'd look out for me."
"Lilah." I place my hand over hers, forcing her to look at me. "I'm glad you have people here who treat you like family. You deserve to be surrounded by people willing to fight for you and the things that matter to you."
Her bottom lip quivers. "Stop making me like you, Lincoln."
"What?"
"Stop making me like you," she repeats, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip to still it. "I can't afford to like you, not when we both know the only reason you're here right now is because you want me to leave my building without a fight."
"Fuck the building," I growl, my eyes locked on hers. I don't give a fuck about the building, not right now. It's the least of my concerns when she's sitting across from me, looking utterly fuckable and sweeter than someone who reads straight-up hardcore porn with hearts and flowers has any right to look. "I'm here right now because of you, Lilah. Because there's something about you that's made it impossible for me to think of anything else since I met you."
"You want to sleep with me."
"Yeah," I admit, not lying to her. "I want you wrapped around me, moaning my fucking name and coming all over me. But that's not what this is, sweetness. I'm here because there's nowhere else I'd rather be. Even when you're insulting me and telling me to fuck off, even when you're bribing hordes of readers to chase me out of your store, Iwantto keep standing right there, listening to every fascinating word out of your mouth."
She stares at me for a long moment, her lips slightly parted, and I desperately want to haul her over the table into my lap tokiss that look off her face. I want to know what wonder tastes like on her lips, and what it sounds like against mine.
"I don't trust easily, Lincoln," she finally whispers. "Or at all, really."
"Someone hurt you before."
Her shoulders bounce in a telling shrug. "Maybe someone just taught me that sometimes, it's safer to guard your heart and keep a distance than to be drawn in by someone who is just playing games."
"Who?" I grit out, gripping the edge of the table because, yeah, I want to hunt down whoever he was and plant my fist in his face. Part of me wants to hunt him down and thank him for being a fucking idiot, too. She's here right now because he was a worthless jackass. That's a double-edged sword right there—infuriating because she got hurt, relieving because I have a chance.
She licks her lips, eyeing me across the table. "Just some guy I went to college with," she mutters. "I thought I mattered to him. Turns out, I was just a pawn in his bid to win back his ex."
"He didn't deserve you, sweetness."
Her lips curve into a smile. "I know. And honestly? I'm glad I didn't end up with him. I would have been miserable. But he still made it hard to trust my own judgment." She eyes me critically. "You're making it hard, too."
"Why is that?"
"Because I want to like you," she whispers. "I want to pretend that you didn't serve me with notice that you're trying to take my dream from me. But eventually, that's what's going to happen. You'll win like you always do, and I'll be the one hurt."
